Sybarite:Belmont, of Swansea, admitted an offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 of gaining unauthorised access to a computer and making unauthorised modifications to computer material.

That seems like a reasonable charge.

Yeah, if they are really "friends" it is stupid it got as far as the police/court, but there is no "friends can't commit crimes against friends" clause in criminal law, so the police/courts are just doing their jobs and prosecuting theft as they should. Pretending virtual currencies don't have value would be the same as ignoring crimes because the thing stolen was bitcoins, or gold ETFs, or rare stamps, or baseball cards just because some people think it is silly to consider those things to be "valuable".

If someone is willing to actually give you cash for it, then , it has value.

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN"), our wonderful Gov't at work, has now stated unequivocally if you can sell a virtual currency for real currency, IT HAS VALUE and any business involved in the buying and selling has to comply with anti-fraud/money laundering regs.

/ *ahem* As long as we agree that 'World of Tanks' is not techincally an RPG *ahem*

Hate to break it to you, but it sure ain't a simulation...it IS entertaining, though, I'll give it that.

If you want realistic WWII combined arms action, try Battleground Europe; you'll have to pay $15/month, and you'll throw your joystick across the room after you maneuver your slow-ass Char B for twenty minutes, being passed on the upslopes by infantry on foot, only to get taken out by an 88 you can't even see...but it's worth it.

So what you all are saying is virtual currency does have value, as do the items being bought/sold in game? That's fine but have you thought your cunning plan all the way through? Are you okay with the IRS taxing Runescape/WoW/virtual purchases?

karellen:Real-world time was spent accruing these virtual goods and real-world time has value. That is what should have been the basis for damages.

That's kinda my thoughts on the matter. That doesn't make it valuable in the eyes of the law, but stealing/destroying the stuff is still a dick move. Your opinion of the worth of virtual stuff doesn't lessen the time and effort a person goes through to attain it, and doesn't give you the right to make it go away.

serial_crusher:"He effectively decimated the credits Miss Jenkins had built up over the previous six years."

Well, at least he let her keep 90% of it.

/ I wonder if the people he gave the credits to will be charged with receiving stolen property.

Thank you... Thank you... I am so sick of hearing 'decimated' used as a synonym of eradicated/obliterated/annihilated. Especially on the news. "The entire African village was decimated". Guess they got lucky.

lennavan:johnson442: Runescape credits are just a bunch of pixels. Just like a $100 bill is just a piece of paper.karellen: Real-world time was spent accruing these virtual goods and real-world time has value.Coolfusis: Yep. My grandpa's runescape account is in the top 5,000 or so, and has billions in items and gold. It's worth a considerable amount of money.xria: Pretending virtual currencies don't have value

So what you all are saying is virtual currency does have value, as do the items being bought/sold in game? That's fine but have you thought your cunning plan all the way through? Are you okay with the IRS taxing Runescape/WoW/virtual purchases?

I don't think they would. If I trade you a cow for an apple tree, does the IRS tax this exchange (I don't think so, but am not certain)? The concept is the same here, they're not trading dollars, but things that are worth dollars. When real dollars are used to pay for some virtual content, yes I expect the IRS to demand its share. I assume they tax Steam purchases, cable subscriptions, etc.

PunGent:ObscureNameHere: *pffft!* HA! Online role-playing games are for losers!

/ *ahem* As long as we agree that 'World of Tanks' is not techincally an RPG *ahem*

Hate to break it to you, but it sure ain't a simulation...it IS entertaining, though, I'll give it that.

If you want realistic WWII combined arms action, try Battleground Europe; you'll have to pay $15/month, and you'll throw your joystick across the room after you maneuver your slow-ass Char B for twenty minutes, being passed on the upslopes by infantry on foot, only to get taken out by an 88 you can't even see...but it's worth it.

Thanks for the tip, but I'll stick with WoT. I like free (even though I did spend a whole $7 real dollars to buy some Gold when they had a big sale a few weeks back).

The funny thing is, I get that same rage at 'invisible kills' in WoT. Especially if you've been tagged by artillery and didn't know it. "Hmm.. I'm hiding by a house, behind a bush, good lane of fire, I think I am.... *CLANG* 'Bail out! This tank is finished' Aw... FFS!"

sunami:lennavan: johnson442: Runescape credits are just a bunch of pixels. Just like a $100 bill is just a piece of paper.karellen: Real-world time was spent accruing these virtual goods and real-world time has value.Coolfusis: Yep. My grandpa's runescape account is in the top 5,000 or so, and has billions in items and gold. It's worth a considerable amount of money.xria: Pretending virtual currencies don't have value

So what you all are saying is virtual currency does have value, as do the items being bought/sold in game? That's fine but have you thought your cunning plan all the way through? Are you okay with the IRS taxing Runescape/WoW/virtual purchases?

I don't think they would. If I trade you a cow for an apple tree, does the IRS tax this exchange (I don't think so, but am not certain)? The concept is the same here, they're not trading dollars, but things that are worth dollars. When real dollars are used to pay for some virtual content, yes I expect the IRS to demand its share. I assume they tax Steam purchases, cable subscriptions, etc.